THE man behind a pioneering architecture gallery in Manchester has quit after Lottery cash was withdrawn.

THE man behind a pioneering architecture gallery in Manchester has quit after Lottery cash was withdrawn.

Graeme Russell, who dreamed up the Centre for the Understanding of the Built Environment (CUBE) a decade ago, will stand down as director in May.

This follows a decision by arts chiefs to cut off an annual Lottery grant of more than é30,000 from 2006-07.

A big question mark hangs over the future of CUBE, which has attracted more than 300,000 visitors since it opened on Portland Street in 1998. A team of management consultants has been drafted in to consider the centre's future.

Mr Russell said: "My vision for CUBE was to articulate architecture and design as a cultural phenomenon, to explore architecture and how it inter-relates with other visual art disciplines.

"This programme, ironically the basis of our Arts Council Lottery funding, is now unsustainable in the current funding climate, so it is time to move on.

"I intend to have a few months off before I start to explore new projects. I want to get back to the rawness of how CUBE was - the excitement, the creativity, the potential to develop something of real artistic and architectural merit."

Funding

The Arts Council is giving CUBE é32,940 for 2004-05 and that will be increased to é33,764 for 2005-06. After that, there is no guaranteed cash, although CUBE can try other sources. The council has blamed a "tight" budget for spending its main funding on popular, high-profile artistic attractions.

A spokesman said: "Funding for a number of north west organisations will end after 2005-06. But Arts Council funding is available and they should apply through the grants for the arts scheme."

CUBE was launched by Mr Russell as a centre for "the investigation, discussion and advancement of design quality within the built environment" and é650,000 was raised through a Lottery grant, with extra cash from property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton and RIBA Publications.

Since then, CUBE has had thousands of visitors and the current exhibition - a furniture show called "100 Years, 100 Chairs" - is attracting 250 people a day.

The future of the Manchester centre is being assessed by a number of interested parties, including the Architecture Centre Network. ACN's Peter Luxton said: "We should see some results of the work in a month or so."

Jim Chapman, chairman of CUBE, said: "I am an optimist. CUBE has been seen as a very positive force. We many be quiet for the next six months, but I believe we will be able to build on what we have already done."